Academic Council makes the right call

An item on today’s Academic Council agenda was review of the proposal to re-establish a College of Nursing at Southern Miss. Former provost Lyman had asked the faculty governance body, typically preoccupied with curriculum issues and proposed changes at the undergraduate level, to weigh in on the nursing proposal.

Neither Katherine Nugent (director of the School of Nursing and associate dean in the College of Health) nor I quite understood the logic of soliciting input from the Council, but we were on hand to answer any questions Council members might have.

Our presence turned out to be unncessary. Apparently the Council itself was unclear about the request for input, but quite clear about its proper purview. In a near-unanimous vote, it decided not to offer any opinion on what it perceives to be an executive decision about the university’s administrative organization. I think Council members made the right call.

A similar request for input was made to the Graduate Council, which is scheduled to meet next Monday. Dr. Nugent and I will again be on hand, should Grad Council consider its purview to be broader than that of Academic Council. I’m guessing, though, that they won’t.